In disaster response, which term refers to prioritizing patient care based on the seriousness of the condition?

• A. Emergency
• B. Triage
• C. Mitigation
• D. Recovery

Answer: (B)

The main idea is prioritizing who gets care first during a crisis based on how serious their condition is and how likely they are to benefit from treatment given limited resources. Triage is the process that does exactly this: quickly assessing each patient and assigning a priority so those in most urgent need and with the best chance of benefit receive attention first. This approach helps maximize the number of lives saved when there aren’t enough resources for everyone at once. Triage decisions may categorize patients by urgency—from those needing immediate life-saving care to those who can wait or, in severe cases, may not survive with the available resources—so care can be directed where it will do the most good. The other terms refer to different disaster-management phases: emergency is the actual event and immediate danger, mitigation involves reducing risks before or during a disaster, and recovery is rebuilding and returning to normal after the event.